Diplomacy of Dictators
The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The Hitler-Stalin pact came into being not only despite the differing systems, but on account of the many similarities between the two dictatorial states run. What was decisive was not that the two ideologies were mutually exclusive, but that the language of forms was almost identical: Both foreign ministers established a new diplomatic style that was almost the same in symbolism, tone, and tempo. The pact was neither the result of the old diplomats who achieved this rapprochement, nor primarily a fatal consequence of the failure of French and British policy. The pact was the product of a “diplomacy of dictators” who found real admiration for one another.
(Osteuropa 7-8/2009, pp. 7–32)